Bodies Bodies Bodies revs up Scream to killer speeds
“They’re not as nihilistic as they look on the internet,” Sophie (Amandla Stenberg) tells her new girlfriend, Bee (Maria Bakalova), in A24’s horror film Bodies Bodies Bodies, as they move to join Sophie’s friends at a gathering. Sophie and Bee are six weeks into their relationship, and headed to a house party at the family mansion of Sophie’s best friend, David (Pete Davidson). They’re planning to ride out an approaching hurricane, but Sophie’s mysterious whims are an equal disaster: It turns out that her “not as nihilistic as they look” friend group isn’t even expecting her to show up, much less arrive with a partner they don’t know. Given how rapidly the getaway devolves into bloody mayhem, it’s a bad time to be the new girl in the crowd.
Bodies Bodies Bodies isn’t an especially internet-driven movie; the hurricane quickly kills the power in David’s house, and the cell service and Wi-Fi go down with it. The most contentious arguments focus on semi-private slights, not public-facing tweets. But Sophie’s opening attempt to soften her friends’ abrasiveness lingers for the audience as the night goes spectacularly wrong. It’s true that these people don’t seem especially nihilistic. At the same time, they’re all surprisingly willing to suspect each other of murder.
Bodies Bodies Bodies begins as a social-anxiety dramedy, not unlike Shiva Baby, the symphony of discomfort starring Rachel Sennott, who also appears here, stealing scenes as Sophie’s friend Alice. The movie also introduces Emma (Chase Sui Wonders), who is dating David; Jordan (Myha’la Herrold), who looks askance at nearly everyone; and Greg (Lee Pace), an older guy Alice has been with for an even briefer window than Sophie and Bee have been together. Apart from
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